Album Review

Perhaps the most beautiful thing about this entry in Verve's Finest Hour series is that it covers 46 years in Ellington's career, from the very beginning of his recording career in 1926, to the very end in 1972. There are brilliant stops along the way with the Blanton/Webster edition of the band, and many of the '30s versions of his classics as well. Both parts of "Creole Rhapsody" are here, as are rather unexpected entries like "Stompy Jones," and "Self Portrait (Of a Bean)." There are better collections to be sure, but this is not one to discount for its cheesy title or for its sound, which is exceptionally good.

Biography

Born: April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C.

Genre: Jazz

Years Active: '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s

Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years. The two aspects of his career were related; Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his new compositions and shaped his writing specifically to showcase the talents of his bandmembers, many of whom remained with him for long periods. Ellington also wrote film scores and stage musicals, and several of his instrumental works...